What I love about my Mission

Dear Mom,
Man, those missionaries don't know a good meal when it slaps them in the face. I've been craving waffles and gravy for 16 MONTHS!! I want to assure you that I've been trying and finishing everything that's put before me. What can I say, I've been taught well :) But I guess since I'm not in Venezuela, it's not too hard. We're usually fed very well.

So I talked to the Wards, and they said that they absolutely love Chantelle and Becky! Sis. Ward said that at one time she wanted Chantelle to marry Jacob :) But apparently Chantelle is preparing for a mission?! Is this true? If so that's awesome! Tell her for me that I think she'll be an outstanding missionary and that I wish her the best.

Anyways, we had a pretty crazy day at church yesterday that I thought I'd tell you about. First off, we went to the bishopric meeting, I said the opening prayer, and we reoported on the week. Then we reported in the Ward Welfare Meeting. After that I gave the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting and Elder Neff gave the closing prayer. It was Fast Sunday, so we also both bore our testimonies. For the 2nd hour, we had prepared to teach the gospel principles class about Obedience, but a young woman in the ward brought her friend to church, who wanted to be taught the lessons, so during the second hour we taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which went very well. Then for the 3rd hour we taught Elder's Quorum about the importance of focusing on commitments when we teach in our priesthood responsibilities. That lesson went pretty well. We have a pretty big group of Elders, but the end of this crazy day, I wasn't even nervous about public speaking. What a miracle! After church we had a couple of errands to run and people to talk to, then right after that, we hurried off to an appointment that we had with a potential investigator. The lesson went great! She received service from missionaries in the past, but never learned about the church. She recently moved in and has been looking for a church, and so she was interested in what we had to say! And that about wraps up our crazy day! :) Oh the wonderful experiences of a mission!

One of the members we had dinner with asked us what we love about our mission, and as Elder Neff was answering I had so many things going through my mind, I couldn't decide on just one. So I decided that I would try to write them all down. So here's a list in no particular order:

People- I've learned to greatly love peope. I've met thousands and am absolutely certain that EVERYONE has something that you can love about them and something that you can learn from them.
Teaching- I love teaching the gospel. Having been blessed by these wonderful truths all my life, it's a thrilling thing to find and teach people that have been thirsting for them for a long time.
Schedule- I love the simple, consistent schedule that we use as missionaries. Our 2 hours in the morning to study and feel the Spirit is very special. Also, at the end of every day, we're exhausted, but we're blessed to get 8 hours of sleep, so the next day, we're ready to go again.
Focus- I love only having one thing to focus on: building the kingdom. I don't have to worry about school, work, bills, kids, or anything else, and that's pretty awesome.
Meetings- I love the incredible Spirit of the missionary meetings that we go to: zone conference, leadership conference, district meetings, etc... It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Service- I love being able to be completely selfless and just give all my time in the service of others. There's nothing like it!
Revelation- I love the right to revelation that comes with being a missionary. I love being an instrument in the hands of God to accomplish His purposes.
Members- I love being able to get to know so many members of the church, more so than I ever did before my mission. I've learned a lot from them, both what I like and what I would do differently. I've watched them closely in family relations, leadership responsibilities, gospel teaching, etc...
Dress- Every once in a while, I will wear jeans on P-day, and let me tell you, slacks are a lot more comfortable than jeans!
But most importantly, I love my mission, because it's God's work that I'm doing. This is the greatest work in all the world, and I get to do it 24/7. That's an enormous blessing!

I love you Mom and hope you have a great week! The Church is true!

Dear Dad,
So you're working another job? How's that going? Do you mind me asking why you decided to do that? How's the appraising going?
Anyways, I love you tons and hope everything is going well. Have a great week!

P.S. Of course you can also read my letter to Mom. It's for you too. I'm not playing favorites :)

Love,
Elder Craft